The best running trails around La Vilella Baixa

Baroque church built in the 18th century. The building has an attached bell tower on the left side. Inside there are some decorative paintings.

Baroque church in the municipality of La Bisbal de Falset. During the Civil War the town was bombed, so the bell tower and the vault of the church were badly damaged and had to be rebuilt.

The Carthusian monastery dates back to the 12th century, when the monks of Provence chose to build, in this unique setting, at the foot of the Sierra del Montsant, the first Carthusian monastery on the Iberian Peninsula. During the 19th century, the monks fled the territory, leaving the land and buildings abandoned. Due to the constant looting, the space occupied by the charterhouse was deteriorated and, today, the remains of the cloisters, the church, as well as the refectory can be visited.

Small hermitage very characteristic for being built under the rocks of the Sierra del Montsant. Adjacent to the hermitage is the former hermit's house. The space also has a large picnic area with stone tables and barbecues.

Great landscape with viticulture on stony soils. Be sure to try the fruity grape Garnatxa down in the town Escaladei. Viticultural area is Priorat, the first wine region in Spain. More at Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorat_(Weinbaugebiet)

From October 1st to December 15th and from March 1st to May 31st 10 a.m. – 5 p.m From December 16th to February 28th 10 a.m. – 3.30 p.m From June 1st to September 30th 10 a.m. – 7.30 p.m Closed Mon (except public holidays); 01.01., 06.01., 25.12. and 26.12. closed GUIDED TOURS IN CATALAN AND SPANISH (reservation on +34 977 638 329): From October 1st to December 15th and from March 1st to May 31st Sat, Sun and public holidays: 11.15 a.m. (Spanish), 12.15 p.m. (Catalan) and 4 p.m. (Catalan) From December 16th to February 28th Sat: 11.15 a.m. (Spanish), 12.15 p.m. (Catalan) and 1.15 p.m. (Catalan) Sun: 11.15 a.m. (Spanish) and 12.15 p.m. (Catalan) From June 1st to July 14th and from September 12th to 30th Sat, Sun and public holidays: 11.30 a.m. (Spanish), 12.30 p.m. (Catalan), 5 p.m. (Catalan) and 6 p.m. (Catalan) From July 15th to September 11th Every day (except Mon): 10.30am, 11.30am (Spanish), 12.30pm (Catalan), 4.30pm (Catalan), 5.30pm (Spanish) and 6.30pm (Catalan) Tue – Fri: Guided tours by appointment PRICES: Adults: €3.50 Reduced (people aged 65 or over, or younger than 25, pensioners with relevant ID, families (2 adults and one or more children, people with a disability card, Carnet jove): €2.50 Special discounts (groups of schoolchildren and students accompanied by teachers who have reserved a visit to a monument or archaeological site between May 1st and August 31st, families with only one parent, families with three or more children): €1.50 Free entry (children under 8, unemployed, groups of students accompanied by teachers who have previously announced their visit (except mNACTEC), accredited teachers and guides, members of the “Associació de Museòlegs de Catalunya”, the ICOM (International Council of Museums) and the ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments) and Carnet Súper 3) Adults with a guide: €6.50 Reduced with a guide: €5.50 Special discount with a guide: €4.50 Free admission every last Tuesday of the month from October to June Agreed guided tours Tue – Fri (Catalan and Spanish): €65 + entrance tickets Agreed guided tours Tue – Fri (other languages): €81 + entrance tickets Cartoixa d'Escaladei Camí de la Cartoixa, s/n 43379 Escaladei Phone: 977 827 006 escaladei.cultura@gencat.cat www.mhcat.cat

Walk around Escaladei and learn about the monastery, founded in the 12th century by French Carthusian monks from Provence and the first of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula. The monks chose a unique place for its construction, located at the foot of the Montsant massif, where a shepherd had dreamed of angels climbing to heaven on a ladder leaning against a large pine tree; hence the name Escaladei – “God's Ladder”. The ladder to heaven, or ladder to God, can be found again today in the priory logo. The charterhouse existed until 1835 and lived through periods of great splendor. For seven centuries the monks tilled the fields, built mills and taught agricultural techniques and viticulture. The prior, hence the name of the region, was the judge and administrator of the villages in the center of what is now the county, roughly corresponding to what is now the Priorat growing area. With the secularization of the church property (expropriation) by Mendizábal (1835), the monks were forced to flee suddenly, leaving their cells, the cloisters, the church and the guest house abandoned. In just two years, the once-magnificent Charterhouse was reduced to rubble as peasants weary of servitude, tithes, and submission plundered it. The monastery ruins are open to the public: visitors are led to the three cloisters, the church and the dining room, as well as to a cell that has been reconstructed with great care. A visit to the Carthusian monastery of Escaladei is a must for anyone who wants to discover the origins of the Priorat region.